Distraught Holly set to miss 3 weeks on TV after kidnap plot
HOLLY Willoughby will not appear on This Morning tomorrow as she struggles to deal with the terror of an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her.
The presenter, who is being guarded by police and a security team from ITV, has decided to take time off and is likely to be replaced by Alison Hammond or Josie Gibson.
This Morning insiders say that Ms Willoughby, 42, will not return to the programme until after the English halfterm break because she had scheduled a holiday then, as she does every year.
The distraught star’s decision came after emotional conversations with senior ITV executives on Friday.
They are now in the process of preparing Monday’s episode of the daytime show with a stand-in host. Ms Willoughby is unlikely to appear on the programme until the end of October at the earliest. ITV bosses are yet to decide how the programme will cover the incident.
One source told The Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘As the days go by, something like this doesn’t get any easier for Holly but it is difficult to think about any kind of work right now, let alone when your job is to present a live television show.
‘She needs to be around her nearest and dearest and take the right advice from the right people, too.
‘The This Morning presenters have been in touch with her and they will juggle covering her role for as long as is needed.’ Ms Willoughby did not appear on the programme on Thursday as she had learned of Gavin Plumb’s alleged plot to commit kidnap and murder her only the night before.
The TV star does not work on Fridays but spent her day hearing further details of the allegations against 30-stone security guard Plumb, which left her and her family ‘absolutely petrified’.
Friends have now rallied around the mother of three.
One said: ‘Holly can’t believe this is happening. She has just got through the whole Schofield scandal and settled back into a new routine on This Morning. Nobody deserves to endure this.’
It is not known if Ms Willoughby, who is married to television producer Dan Baldwin, has remained at her London home or whether they have gone elsewhere. Plumb, 36, was arrested at his flat in Essex, 30 miles east of London, on Wednesday, where he was found allegedly in possession of weapons.
He has been charged with soliciting to commit murder and incitement to commit kidnap in relation to the TV presenter.
Plumb will appear again at court in Essex on November 3.